Resident Evil Requiem (or Resident Evil 9) is the latest ninth installment in Capcom's main survival horror series, released on 27 Feb 2026 GMT+7. Developed with the RE Engine, it is designed fully for ninth-generation consoles. The game features two main protagonists with distinct play styles:
Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst (daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from the Outbreak installment).
Leon S. Kennedy, a legendary character returning with an older, matured look.
The story takes place around 2028-2030 (30 years after the Raccoon City incident), focusing on exploring the ruins of Raccoon City, reclaimed by nature, and the Wrenwood Hotel. Players encounter new zombie variants with unique personalities (such as zombies who like to switch off lights) and formidable enemies like Blister Head, as well as the return of legendary monsters in new forms.
One of this installment’s standout features is the Hybrid Perspective gameplay system, allowing players to switch between first-person (FPS) and third-person (TPS) views in real-time.
Leon S. Kennedy, a weary police officer and apocalypse survivor, faces a world where nearly 80% of the population has turned into zombies. Now about 51 years old during the events of Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom’s latest excellent survival horror game set in a city overrun by ravenous corpses for decades, Leon remains lively and stylish in 2026. His well-groomed hair and beard help maintain his middle-aged appearance without looking overly old, matching the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT he drives. Impressively, like the Resident Evil series itself, Leon’s survival skills adapt to the various changes occurring in Requiem.
In this game, Leon drives a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT. Presumably, his income from being a special police officer is spent on facial herbs and hair care products. After speculation spanning three decades about what vehicle our hero drives besides his life-partner motorcycle, Capcom has finally revealed Leon's ride, and it makes sense upon reflection. The ground clearance of the Cayenne GT with its 23-inch wheels is ideal for navigating roads littered with corpses. Its V8 twin-turbo engine produces 631 horsepower, enabling confident escape from pursuing zombies. Additionally, the Cayenne offers ample rear storage for puzzle tools, weapons, and virus medicines, plus plenty of legroom for other survivors. This conclusion seems reasonable, though the collaboration feels odd. Resident Evil’s world is filthy and devastated, with city infrastructure destroyed by Umbrella Corporation’s relentless experiments and hordes of zombies. Raccoon City is hardly a place where one would expect to see a luxury German SUV speeding about, flaunting wealth.
Leon’s first day on the job in Resident Evil 2, in 1998, coincided with Umbrella Corporation’s hazardous and unsafe occupational experiments that triggered the zombie outbreak across Raccoon City. Since then, Leon’s life has been full of hardship, survival, loss, and listening to Albert Wesker’s long-winded speeches. Many heroes in the series have given up, disappeared from the games, or let their beards grow wild in sequels, but not Leon, who remains the central protagonist in the franchise to this day, blending zombie headshots from various perspectives.
Supporting character Grace Ashcroft contrasts sharply with the well-groomed Leon. At the start of Requiem, Grace is just beginning her FBI career, though her anxious nature may not suit the job well. A traumatic event involving her mother during her teenage years ignited her determination to seek justice and answers.
The game smartly uses these two distinct character archetypes by separating traditional survival horror fans' expectations from those favoring a slower psychological tension approach emphasized in later installments. Leon’s sections focus on action and gunplay, while Grace’s emphasize exploration, chase sequences, and gradually intensifying tension reminiscent of Resident Evil 7 and Village. This blend is very powerful.
Recommended settings suggest playing Leon’s chapters in third-person view and Grace’s in first-person to clearly highlight the contrast between old and new gameplay styles. Players may choose perspectives per character. The latest zombie game offers high flexibility with many accessibility options and excellent PC customization. Considering current RAM and GPU prices, this game reduces hardware load, allowing smooth high-frame-rate play with visuals more stunning than any previous installment.
Requiem pays great attention to highly detailed and sharp scene design to enhance its chilling atmosphere. It skillfully combines technology and artistic direction. The game’s hallmark is cinematic realism that fits perfectly with zombie escape gameplay. Early in the game, players encounter a ‘young girl’ after waking in a creepy abandoned hospital. The scene’s lighting and setup are near perfect, making images feel surreal. This means when something abnormal appears in the frame, it does so in the most terrifying way imaginable, creating discomfort and tension surpassing previous titles. Certain scenes are intensely stressful to overcome.
Grace’s gameplay resembles a high-stakes hide-and-seek, where the character must flee from nearly indestructible terrifying enemies to safe zones they cannot follow. Soon, zombies alter the environment, eliminating all safety. Players who experienced the original game have aged considerably, but the tension and fear seem even greater in Resident Evil Requiem.
Leon, with his well-styled hair, tries to shoot virus-infected targets staggering about as if the bullets have expiration dates. The ongoing changes, combined with strong storytelling and high-definition production value, make this latest zombie shooter a must-play—like a book you can’t put down, a 'keep reading' experience that isn’t overly long. Single-player games are rare nowadays, so enjoying a perfect zombie game in 2026 is remarkable.
Resident Evil Requiem evokes the eerie atmosphere of the original game, playing alone against zombies late at night 25 years ago, sometimes paranoid enough to check locked doors and windows. This is why AAA games dominate much of the market, making you nostalgic for the first Resident Evil. In summary, Resident Evil Requiem is the best zombie game ever, bridging differences across the series’ lifetime. It will continue to create pressure and fear in gaming worlds for a long time, even though I have long passed the natural gaming lifespan myself...